D&D 5E Hope for an open GSL?

[MacMathan]

I could see the app store model working as long as the garden was tended for quality i.e. not just anything gets to be put up.

The model could also work because WotC would then directly get a cut of each sale and have complete control over distribution ala apple and microsoft. Rather than hoping an expanded market would help your bottom line this way would guarantee it and still provide control for the next edition.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Open licenses are a horrible idea; not just for the financials of a company, but because they literally allow any idiot with a convert-to-PDF function on their favored editor to churn out horrible content that is automatically sanctioned by the license.

I'd much rather a restricted license than one that allows another Black Tokyo.

Your forum name and your beliefs are at odds.

 

[Nellisir]

... Unearthed Arcana (or Arcana Unearthed, can never remember which one was WotC's).

The one that's the same as a 1e product was a WotC product. The one that had to be changed for legal reasons was not.

 

[Nylanfs]

AFAIK isn't Cook one of the proponents of the OGL, and having an open license for 5e? If so having differences with the company doesn't bode well for the new license.

 

[Nellisir]

AFAIK isn't Cook one of the proponents of the OGL, and having an open license for 5e? If so having differences with the company doesn't bode well for the new license.

People have made the assumption that he is. I'm not sure I've seen it explicitly stated.

 

[Alzrius]

Anyone know how many Paizo has right now I would imagine at least 30 but I could be wrong.

You can look at Paizo's contact page to get a decent idea of who works there. I count almost exactly thirty people.

Open licenses are a horrible idea; not just for the financials of a company, but because they literally allow any idiot with a convert-to-PDF function on their favored editor to churn out horrible content that is automatically sanctioned by the license.

I'd much rather a restricted license than one that allows another Black Tokyo.

Leaving aside that your statement on company financials is completely at odds with what we've been told by the people in the know (e.g. Ryan Dancey, companies that use the OGL in their business such as Paizo, etc.), and even foregoing the usual de gustibus non est disputandum schtick, the guy who wrote Black Tokyo has mentioned on his blog that it's one of his best-selling lines.

I do hereby nominate you for a Darwin Award.

 

[Ferghis]

People have made the assumption that he is. I'm not sure I've seen it explicitly stated.

I can't find it now, but I distinctly remember one of his earlier WotC articles being about how much he loved open source. He didn't specifically say that 5e would be "open," but he did say something like he would really like it to be.

 

[Hussar]

It would not surprise me if most, if not all the people involved in the development side of things is in favour of an OGL of some sort. It certainly allows a much broader range of development when you have a bunch of companies doing it, instead of just one.

 

[Nellisir]

I can't find it now, but I distinctly remember one of his earlier WotC articles being about how much he loved open source. He didn't specifically say that 5e would be "open," but he did say something like he would really like it to be.

I'd be interested in seeing that quote. Malhavoc was significantly more restrictive with their open game content than almost any other d20 company.

 

[Morrus]

I'd be interested in seeing that quote. Malhavoc was significantly more restrictive with their open game content than almost any other d20 company.

In fact, I'd argue that Malhavoc didn't actually meet the requirements of the OGL. The OGC declarations were so vague that another publisher couldn't actually use them.